Chapter 12 - THE SIGNATURE THAT COULD DESTROY AN EMPIRE|
Eleanor Whitmore sat at the end of the boardroom table while her independent attorney, Margaret Wells, reviewed the documents.
Outside, rain battered the windows overlooking Michigan Avenue.
Inside, nobody spoke.
Finally, Margaret placed the papers down.
“This is a sophisticated forgery.”
Ethan leaned forward.
“How can you be certain?”
“The document claims your grandmother executed a power of attorney while meeting a notary at her apartment.”
Eleanor frowned.
“I was recovering from surgery that afternoon.”
Margaret nodded.
“According to the hospital's records, you were still under medical supervision. The timeline doesn't support the claimed signing.”
Vivian Price shook her head.
“Then how did this reach the company secretary?”
“Someone submitted it through an outside legal representative.”
“Who?”
Margaret turned the document around.
A name appeared beneath the certification.
QUENTIN FROST — FROST & ASSOCIATES
Ethan recognized the name.
“That's Conrad Shaw's attorney.”
“Correct,” Margaret replied.
Eleanor's expression became grim.
“Quentin Frost used to advise this hotel.”
“How long ago?” Ethan asked.
“Nearly twenty years.”
Amara, sitting quietly beside Rosa, suddenly looked up.
“Twenty years?”
Eleanor glanced at her.
“Yes.”
Amara opened her handbag.
She removed the old photograph from the 2007 incident file.
“Is this him?”
Margaret examined it.
Her face tightened.
“That's Quentin.”
Ethan stood abruptly.
“The man with the watch?”
Rosa nodded.
“The same watch appears in the wedding surveillance.”
Margaret looked confused.
“What watch?”
Rosa explained the missing footage, the damaged wheelchair brake, and the unidentified man wearing a silver watch with a blue face.
Margaret listened without interrupting.
Then she said something that made everyone uncomfortable.
“We need to be extremely careful. A matching watch and an old photograph raise questions, but they're not proof of sabotage.”
Rosa agreed.
“Which is why we're collecting access records, forensic findings, and witness statements.”
Eleanor looked toward Amara.
“Did Maya Chen give you anything else?”
Amara nodded.
“Payroll reports. Maintenance records. And information about my father.”
Margaret stiffened.
“Your father?”
“Daniel Lewis.”
The attorney went completely still.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Then she removed her glasses.
“Daniel Lewis worked on an internal investigation at this hotel.”
Amara leaned forward.
“What investigation?”
“Unauthorized transfers. False invoices. Suspicious contracts involving outside investors.”
“Conrad Shaw?”
Margaret hesitated.
“His name appeared in several preliminary findings.”
Amara felt her chest tighten.
“What happened to the investigation?”
Margaret looked toward Eleanor.
Eleanor's face had become painfully pale.
“Tell her,” Eleanor whispered.
Margaret folded her hands.
“The investigation ended after the fire.”
Amara stared at her.
“Why?”
“Because the records disappeared. And so did your father.”
Amara struggled to breathe.
“Then somebody covered it up.”
Nobody answered.
Margaret opened a second folder.
“There's something else.”
She slid a document across the table.
It was a transfer authorization bearing Eleanor's forged signature.
Below it was a list of beneficiaries.
Patricia Crane.
Conrad Shaw.
Quentin Frost.
And one final name.
Ethan Whitmore.
Ethan stared at the document.
“What?”
Margaret spoke carefully.
“Someone has listed you as a beneficiary of a transaction you've never approved.”
May you like
Ethan looked up.
“Then they were planning to make it look like I helped steal my grandmother's company.”
